'In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful' His saying, the Most High: ﴿O mankind, indeed there has come to you the Messenger with the truth from your Lord, so believe; it is better for you. But if you disbelieve, then indeed, to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. And Allah is Knowing and Wise﴾ ﴿O People of the Scripture, do not commit excess in your religion or say about Allah except the truth. The Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, was but a Messenger of Allah and His Word which He directed to Mary and a Spirit from Him. So believe in Allah and His messengers. And do not say, 'Three'; desist - it is better for you. Indeed, Allah is but one God. Exalted is He above having a son. To Him belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth. And sufficient is Allah as Disposer of affairs﴾. The address in His saying: ﴿O mankind﴾ is an address to all people; and the Surah is Medinan; for this is what all people were addressed with after the Hijrah; because the verse is a call to the Shari'ah; and if it were regarding a matter of rulings and the like, it would have been: 'O you who have believed'; and the Messenger in this verse is Muhammad - blessings and peace be upon him -; and the truth is His Shari'ah. And His saying, the Most High: ﴿it is better for you﴾ is an accusative governed by an implied verb; its estimation is: 'come to it, it is better for you'; or 'obtain it, it is better for you'; and His saying: 'so believe' and His saying: 'desist' - after that - is a command to leave something; and to enter into something else; and for that reason, the description of preference which is 'better' is appropriate; this is the position of Sibawayh regarding the accusative of 'better'; and a similar example in poetry is the saying of Umar ibn Abi Rabiah: 'So let him promise you the pasture of Malik, or the meadows between them are easier'. Meaning: it will come easier; and Abu Ubaidah said: the estimation is: let the faith be better; and the desisting be better; so its accusative is on the news of 'was'; and Al-Farra' said: the estimation is: so believe with a faith that is better for you; so its accusative is on the adjective for a missing source. Then He, the Most High, said: ﴿And if you disbelieve, then indeed, to Allah belongs whatever is in the heavens and whatever is in the earth﴾; and this is news of self-sufficiency; and that the harm of disbelief is only upon them; and to Allah belongs knowledge and wisdom. Then He addressed the People of the Scripture from the Christians to leave excess; which is transgressing the limit; and from it is the inflation of prices; and from it is the excess of the arrow. And His saying, the Most High: 'in your religion'; its meaning is: in the religion which you are required to follow; as if it is a generic name; and He attributed it to them; clarifying that they are bound by it; and it is not a reference to their misleading religion; nor were they commanded to adhere to it without excess; but rather they were commanded to leave excess in the religion of Allah entirely; and to unify; and to say about Allah only the truth; and if they follow what they were commanded, then that will lead them to Islam.

Then He, the Exalted, clarified the matter of the Messiah; that he is the Messenger of Allah - blessings and peace be upon him - and His Word; meaning: he is created from His Word which is: "Be"; and His saying: "He cast it"; is an expression of bringing this event into being in Mary. Al-Tabari said: "And His Word He cast"; meaning the glad tidings which the angel was sent with to her. And His saying, the Exalted, "and a Spirit from Him"; means: from among His creations; for "from" indicates the beginning of the limit; when one examines it. Al-Tabari said: "and a Spirit from Him"; meaning: a breath from Him; as it is from Gabriel by His command. And he recited the words of Dhī al-Rummah:

So I said to him, 'Embrace her and give her life With Your Spirit, and grant her a measure.'

He describes the fall of fire; and Ubayy ibn Ka'b said: The spirit of Jesus - peace be upon him - is from the spirits of Allah which He created and made to speak by His saying: "Am I not your Lord?" They said: "Yes" [Al-A'raf: 172]; then Allah sent him to Mary; so he entered into her; then he commanded them to believe in Allah; and His messengers; meaning: those among them including Jesus; and Muhammad - upon them be peace and blessings.

And His saying, the Exalted: "And do not say, 'Three'"; the meaning is: "Allah is the third of three"; so the beginning and the added have been omitted; as Abu Ali estimated. It is also possible that what is estimated is: "The one worshipped is three"; or: "The God is three"; or: "The deities are three"; or: "The hypostases are three"; and however much the statements of the Christians differ, it varies according to that estimation; and the saying regarding the meaning of "cease; it is better for you" has already been mentioned.